Bottom-searching efforts at an earlier session put the brakes on the VN-Index’s fluctuation, which stopped at 549 points after experiencing a flat decline of 0.13 per cent.

"The prices of some stocks began falling into the attractive zone, due to the effect of current market fluctuation, which encourages investors with confirmed returns on reinvestments," said Nguyen Duy Tan, a Ha Noi broker, who was pointing to the sharp gains made by Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Ba Ria-Vung Tau House Development (HDC).

Tan noted that most of the gains yesterday were concentrated in property stocks, which had previously been a catalyst for market growth.

"However, unfavour-able news from the US market continued to pressure trading, while the domestic economy has yet to release more supportive news," he added. Tan noted that investors continue to observe the wait-and-see attitude of the Government, which is considering implementing an additional stimulus package.

"Until the official news on this package is released, market demand will be unstable," Tan said.

As a result, the trading volume yesterday at the HCM City Stock Exchange sharply fell to 48.06 million shares with a turnover of VND2.5 trillion (US$140.4 million). Market leader Sacombank (STB) ended the session with the most active stock with nearly 4 million shares changing hands.

At the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, HNX-Index closed with a 1.06 per cent drop to 175.39 points.

This northern market witnessed a decrease in half of its market volume, when compared to last Friday’s session that generated a value of VND1.1 trillion ($61.8 million) with 28.6 million shares. The most active stock came from Kim Long Securities (KLS) with 3 million shares.

The current adjustment in markets resulted from the psychological impact that accompanied Wall Street’s decline, said Truong Thuy Van, Director of VPBank Securities.

Others felt unsafe because they felt that the markets were still in their bullish period, which has effectively lowered demand, Van said. "However, such adjustments hope to establish a stable upward trend for stock markets by the end of the year."

She noted that the first nine-months earnings, which are scheduled to be released this month, would create a division of stocks’ growth. Therefore companies with positive business results would achieve significant growth.

Foreigners were net sellers yesterday and vended a combined 1.6 million shares in both of the stock exchanges.